Quarrel
by Levan
Summary: It's another day in the office of the 8th Division, and Shunsui was ready to bring on the heat with the lovely yet witty Ise Nanao.


"Where's your Zanpakuto?"

A simple puff of air left her dry lips which, more or less, was pretty much insufficient as a reply. She was too busy stacking papers on top of one another and organizing the clutter that was left in the Captain's quarters, which was too chaotic to bear for most people. Fortunately, Nanao wasn't like any other person.

"Nanao-chan?"

Another breath poured, and Nanao gracefully placed a whole pile of papers inside one of the drawers. Shunsui grew disinterested by her work and slouched back on his chair, allowing his pink haori to drape down from the end of it. He took his sakkat and pushed it on the surface of his chest, all the while nibbling casually on the piece of straw that stuck in his mouth.

"Why do you ask?" Nanao finally spurted out, though sadly, still with her cold demeanor. He beamed at her seemingly abstracted reaction and answered her.

"Nothing much, really. I'm just curious why my Nanao-chan refuses to wield her sword that she was entrusted with."

He stared at her face, awaiting her reaction. It was a pity that Nanao remained unfazed, the bangs of her violet hair still primly straight and the reflection of her glasses obstructing the view of her pure eyes.

Oh, what he would pay for to fathom the mind of Ise Nanao.

"Perhaps it doesn't make any sense, really, why I don't have my sword," Nanao mused as she inserted two books into their respective slots in the mini-library.

Shunsui sat up, the loss of interest dissipating.

"I know I am obliged to have it at all times, but I always hated those things. Mock all you want, Kyoraku-taichou, but I must say, I admit that I cannot protect you as I have promised years before."

He grew incredulous. With his right brow raised, he tried to remember the days of Nanao's new appointment as vice-captain. One of the requirements was to swear eternally that they would protect their captains at all costs.

She was, possibly, far from ensuring that promise.

"And so?"

She seemed surprised – that was a first. The sight of her eyes in sudden confusion, even if it lasted just a moment, endeared him. "What do you mean, 'so'?"

"You promised you would protect me with your life, Nanao-chan. It doesn't seem to be such a big deal to me. You can only barely fight a weakened Hollow anyway."

He knew he popped a vein right there and Nanao wouldn't be so passive about this.

"Please just leave me with my work, Kyoraku-taichou. It's bad enough to be left with all this work as it is."

Her tone practically screamed "screw you" and Shunsui always anticipated that kind of answer. But their conversation was too intriguing to end too soon. The captain sat up, threw away the straw in his mouth, and placed his sakkat at the end of his table. The noisy creaks of his chair failed to divert Nanao's attention to him, yet he didn't care much with her disregard.

Afterwards, he took a single paper that was left from his desk and read it out loud for her to hear.

"Hmm," Shunsui hummed, almost playful in tone, "It says here that the 8th Division is in need of immediate repairs inside two rooms – the banquet hall and the barracks, the first of which has minor cracks running up on the wall, while the latter has two beds destroyed due to a brawl through a bottle of sake. To start repairs, this file needs either the signature of the taichou or the fukutaichou-"

His explanation was cut short when Nanao snatched up the piece of paper in his hand. She gracefully folded the piece of paper and placed it on top of her own desk, possibly intending to handle it later.

"My situation doesn't mean I can't protect you from your paperwork, you know."

"Oh really?" Shunsui retorted with a grin plastered on his face, "I was just curious who won in that rumble... I wanted to challenge him afterwards so I can get his sake."

"Oh of _course_ you do, Kyoraku-taichou. But it's better yet that you let me handle this job, thank you. We do not want any type of brain hemorrhage occurring right now due to the complexity of it, do we?" Nanao replied, a simplistic smirk curving up from her lips.

Shunsui chuckled lightly and slanted down on his chair once again, his mood conveniently setting together with Nanao's. It had been a long time since he was amused by something he intentionally did.

"Giving up, are we? I thought you'd give more of a fight than this," Nanao remarked. The older Shinigami shook his head and stood up this time. He walked towards her and crouched down a bit to match her height. He inched his face closer to hers – Nanao was caught off-guard by his reaction to move. Blood rushed up her cheeks until her face was completely red in color, her embarrassment truly becoming evident. Shunsui lunged onto her face and locked his lips into hers, the tangle of their mouths only captivating Nanao even more. She ran her fingers through his long hair and pulled him closer to her, the intensity of the situation gushing through their veins like pure adrenaline in the middle of a fight.

Shunsui was impressed by her reaction – he had never thought she'd give up so easily.

The heat dispersed as Shunsui slowly tried to pull himself out of Nanao's clutch. She was disappointed at this, but moreover, it was still a unique experience that she'll never forget so easily. "Over, are we?"

"Yes, pretty much," Shunsui answered with a grin on his face, "And I believe I just won."

"Oh, that's a disappointment. Perhaps next time I'll be the one kissing you first."


End file.
